In what can only be described as the most bizarre conservatory planning row in recent memory, a couple in Warwickshire have appealed to the heir to the throne Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson to stop their conservatory from being torn down.
Their application to keep the conservatory they had built was rejected in February 2020 due to being considered a disruptive feature of the Avon Carrow listed building, a building that is primarily known for its controversial previous owner, MP John Profumo.
Despite the structure being a temporary construction that can only be seen by the owners themselves, multiple appears have been narrowly rejected.
The owners of the building, Mr and Mrs Kipling, were initially told that planning permission was not needed, and so they bolted the extension onto their home in 2018, only to find it did not qualify for permitted development rights.
Typically, small extensions such as small conservatories, bespoke orangeries and garages can be added to a property providing they fall within certain development guidelines. However, because Avon Carrow is a listed building the couple needed listed building consent to make any alterations.
The Kiplings repeatedly appealed, going to the local press and even requesting help from local councillors, the Prime Minister, the Prince of Wales and TV architect George Clark, although none of them could help.
A History Of Controversy
The building, part of Avon Carrow, was made a listed building in the late 1980s but has been a fixture for controversy for many years.
Former Stratford-on-Avon MP John Profumo owned the entire property and was part of one of the largest scandals in British political history, known as the Profumo affair, which brought down an entire government.
Mr Profumo, then-Secretary of State for War was discovered to have had an affair with a 19-year-old model Christine Keeler, who had met Profumo through their mutual friend Stephen Ward.
It initially caught the attention of the media once found out because a high ranking member of the government had cheated on one of Britain’s leading actresses with a woman over 20 years his junior, but became part of a complicated national security issue not long after.
Miss Keeler, who thanks to her friendship with Ward travelled many social circles, was also involved with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a spy working for the Soviet GRU.
This became a matter of national security, with fears that Keeler was acting as a spy or double agent for both parties.
The story made national headlines a couple of years later in part because Keeler tried to sell her story and then went missing shortly thereafter, only to be found in Spain on holiday sometime later.
The affair caused a potential security risk, ruined a potential defection from the Soviet Union, led to immorality charges and the later death of Mr Ward, and severely damaged the credibility of the government.
At the time led by Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, he resigned in October 1963, citing ill health, but the effect of the controversy was clear.
Harold Wilson, Labour leader, won the 1964 general election as a result of the fallout.